July 12, 2016
Riding La Route Verte: So much more relaxed
For the next couple of days I headed north towards Quebec City. I had made it through Granby the night before, cycling out the other side in the dark, with a lake on one side of me and a forest lit up with fireflies on the other, before finally finding somewhere to camp. From there I took the Route Verte #1 as far as Waterloo, on a sunny and hot morning. After diving in a lake to cool off I switched to Route Verte #4 to shorten the distance. The cycle trails continued, still being used by a few other cyclists. They were mostly lycra clad older people, with bodies that should never be lycra clad, not in public. I spent half my time enjoying the scenery, and the other half with my eyes half-closed, until I reached Acton Vale, where I went shopping. With limited options I found myself in 'Dollarama', and discovered, far too late in my ride across Canada, that they had cheap and interesting cookies in there.
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At Acton Vale I left the trail and took nice, if hilly, small roads east to Richmond where I could rejoin the #1 route north. Now I was on a more remote cycle path with almost nobody else making use of it, which was alright by me. I was camping at the frequent rest areas that appeared all along these fantastic trails, and very much enjoying this simple, easy, cycling experience. These traffic-free routes made Quebec so much more relaxed and enjoyable than the rest of Canada had been.
The next day I stopped at an information centre and was once again offered a free shower. I was beginning to wonder if people were trying to tell me something. But after I'd had a good wash and returned downstairs to sit and use the wifi, all the 20-year-old guy in the info centre really seemed to want to tell me concerned balls. He was very impressed that I'd cycled such a long way and told me, more than once, that I had big balls. I wondered how he could be sure, and hoped he hadn't been watching me in the shower.
"Really, it takes a lot of balls to do that."
"But don't you get a lot of cycle tourists stop here?" I asked.
"Not as ballsy as you!"
"Well, its not that difficult. I'm sure you could do it too."
"No, no. I'd love to, but, you know, I don't have the balls."
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Tuesday 12th July - 111km
Wednesday 13th July - 98km
Today's ride: 209 km (130 miles)
Total: 54,476 km (33,830 miles)
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